Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Far Beyond The Sun

So far this is my best video of me playing guitar. It's a cover of Yngwie Malmsteen's Far Beyond The Sun. I think it's a bit sloppy , got various mistakes and to mention a bit off in timing. Normally I can play this fine but when you're playing for the camera, there's an added pressure to make sure you get it all in one go. But then it's hard to get it right.

To be able to play at this level, it took years of practice. Nothing can achieve without blood, sweat and tears. So if you want to be able to play like this, there's no other option but to practice. Even then I'm not even half as good as where I want to be. I'm not planning to stop playing guitar anytime soon since there's so much to accomplish.



Thursday, June 11, 2009

Jason Becker, the greatest musician ever!

The first time I saw Jason Becker's photo on a Guitar World issue, I thought man this guy is a real poser and pufter. I was dead wrong. For he is the greatest musician ever to roam the earth, greater than Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai, Alexi Laiho, Muhammed Suicmez or any other guitarist or musician put together.

He was one talented guitarist. Filled with a bright future, he went on to become one the greatest guitarist ever. His video of him playing "Serrana" proved his technical fluency as well as his superb master over the six-string arpeggios (which is extremely hard even for the best). He joined the band Cacophony while he was 16, along with Marty Friedman and created duelling guitar solos which are out of this world. He then went on to join David Lee Roth's band, replacing the legendary Steve Vai.

Sadly at this time, he was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's Disease). It is the same type of disease which occur to Stephen Hawking. Doctor's gave him 3 years to live, but he fought on and never gave up. His body started to paralyze, rendering him from playing his guitar. Now he can only move his eyes, but he still composes by using a computer with special device to detect his eye movements. His body might be paralyzed, but his mind is as sharp as ever. Anyone who knows about him will say that his career has just begun.






Jason, you are truly an inspiration to all of us. God gave you a special task, to keep us inspired.